#11) BUSH:
“We'll be implementing a missile defense system relatively quickly, and that is another way to help deal with the threats that we face in the 21st century. My opponent is opposed to missile defenses.” [Bush, First Presidential Debate, 9/30/04]
FACT: John Kerry Supports Deploying a Missile Defense System That Works. But President Bush is relying on an unproven system that cannot protect the nation from the most imminent dangers we face. The GAO found in April 2004, “as a result of testing shortfalls and the limited time available to test the BMDS being fielded, system effectiveness will be largely unproven when the initial capability goes on alert at the end of September 2004.” In fact, the system has only been tested eight times, most recently in December 2002 - a failed test. Since President Bush announced his intent to deploy in 2004, all subsequent tests have been delayed or cancelled-most recently until November 2004, after the elections. The Pentagon's own Chief Weapons inspector, Thomas Christie, says said he “will not be able to provide a confident assessment of the system's viability ahead of the planned deployment” due to an absence of realistic flight testing. Christie estimates that the system can only hit its target about 20% of the time. [GAO, “Missile Defense: Actions Needed to Enhance Testing and Accountability,” 4/04, pg. 4.; Aviation Week & Space Technology , 9/20/04; The Washington Post, 9/14/04]
#12) BUSH:
“We've allocated $7 billion over the next months for reconstruction efforts. And we're making progress there.” [Bush, First Presidential Debate, 9/30/04]
FACT: Iraqis Won’t See Reconstruction Money For At Least A Year. “Despite President Bush's promise to spend $9 billion on reconstruction contracts in Iraq in coming months, administration and congressional officials said on Thursday it could take more than a year to pay out that much money.” [Reuters, 9/30/04]
#13) BUSH:
On funding for First Responders: “We are doing our duty to provide the funding.” [Bush, First Presidential Debate, 9/30/04]
FACT: Bush Has Cut Funding For First Responders. Bush Cuts Funding for State and Local Homeland Security Grants by $800 Million and training funding in half. Bush cut funding to the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Domestic Preparedness, which supplies a variety of first-responder grants to state and local governments, by $800 million, to $3.6 billion in 2005 from $4.4 billion in 2004. Bush cut state and local grant funding for first responder training, exercise, and technical assistance by nearly half, from $320 million in 2004 to $178 million in 2005. [Department of Homeland Security, 2005 Budget in Brief,
http://www.dhs.gov; http://www.omb.gov]
FACT: Bush Cut Resources for Firefighters. George Bush cut grants for equipment and personnel to local fire departments by $246 million in his 2005 budget. According to the International Association of Firefighters, “The FIRE Act grant program has received $5 billion worth of requests,” and “has awarded grants totaling just 10% of that need.” Kevin O'Connor of the International Association of Firefighters said, “This [2005] budget is profoundly disappointing to first responders … It's a continuation of the president's lack of commitment to first responders in general and firefighters in particular.” [
http://www.dhs.gov; http://www.iaff.org; UPI, 2/2/04;
http://www.cfr.org]
Bush Consistently Cut COPS Program. Bush proposed cuts in the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Bush’s 2005 budget cuts the program by 87 percent. And, according to a secret OMB memo, Bush and Ashcroft plan to cut the COPS program by $43 million in 2006 and freeze funding at that level through 2009. [House Budget Committee Democratic Caucus, 2/6/04]
#14) BUSH:
“There will be elections in January.” [Bush, First Presidential Debate, 9/30/04]
FACT: Bush Administration Sending Mixed Messages On Iraqi Elections.
Rumsfeld Said Elections Will Be Denied To Some Iraqis. Rumsfeld: “If there were to be an area where the extremists focused during the election period, and an election was not possible in that area at that time, so be it. You have the rest of the election and you go on. Life’s not perfect,” Rumsfeld told the Senate Armed Services Committee. [AP, 9/23/04]
Powell: “It doesn't mean that everybody got to vote on that particular day. What's our turnout on any particular day for a variety of reasons? So, we don't need a 100-percent turnout of every single citizen.” [Fox News Sunday, 9/26/04]
#15) BUSH:
“My administration worked with the Congress to create the Department of Homeland Security so we could better coordinate our borders and ports.” [Bush, First Presidential Debate, 9/30/04]
FACT: White House Opposed Creation of Department of Homeland Security. In October 2001, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said Bush opposed creating Office of Homeland Security position for Ridge. “[T]he president has suggested to members of Congress that they do not need to make this a statutory post, that he [Ridge] does not need Cabinet rank, for example, there does not need to be a Cabinet-level Office of Homeland Security because there is such overlap among the various agencies, because every agency of the government has security concerns,” Fleischer said. [White House Press Briefing, 10/24/01]
#16) BUSH:
“And by the way, we've also changed the culture of the FBI to have counterterrorism as its number one priority. We're communicating better.” [Bush, First Presidential Debate, 9/30/04]
FACT: Many Al Qaeda Recordings Not Being Transcribed. “Audio recordings that relate to Al Qaeda investigations are supposed to be reviewed within 12 hours of interception under F.B.I. policy. But the report found that deadline was missed in 36 percent of nearly 900 cases that the inspector general reviewed. In 50 Al Qaeda cases, it took at least a month for the F.B.I. to translate material. The F.B.I. ‘has not prioritized its workload nationwide to ensure a zero backlog in the F.B.I.'s highest priority cases - counterterrorism cases and, in particular, Al Qaeda cases,’ the report found.” [NYT, 9/28/04]
#17) BUSH:
“Well, actually, he forgot Poland.” [Bush, First Presidential Debate, 9/30/04]
FACT: Actually, Polish Troops Were Not Part Of The Initial Invasion Of Iraq. "Except for a few commandos, Polish troops were not part of the original ground invasion." [Washington Post, 10/1/04]
FACT: President Of Poland Says He Was Misled About WMD In Iraq. Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski told a group of European reporters “But naturally I also feel uncomfortable due to the fact that we were misled with the information on weapons of mass destruction.” [CBS News.com, 3/18/04]
#18) BUSH:
“And the Taliban, no longer in power; 10 million people have registered to vote in Afghanistan in the upcoming presidential election.” [Bush, First Presidential Debate, 9/30/04]
FACT: Bush Exaggerates the Number of Registered Voters. “Human Rights Watch this week said that figure was inaccurate because of the multiple registrations of many voters. In a lengthy report, the respected organization also documented how human rights abuses are fueling a pervasive atmosphere of repression and fear in many parts of the country, with voters in those areas having little faith in the secrecy of the balloting and often facing threats and bribes from militia factions.” [Wash Post, 10/1/04]
#19) BUSH:
“The minute we have bilateral talks the six-party talks will unwind.” [Bush, First Presidential Debate, 9/30/04]
FACT: Six Party Talks Have Stalled Under Bush’s Policies. The Bush administration has acknowledged that the six party talks “will not resume this month despite North Korean commitments to do so.” [Associated Press, 9/28/04]
#20) BUSH:
“Actually, we've increased funding for dealing with nuclear proliferation about 35 percent since I've been the President.” [Bush, First Presidential Debate, 9/30/04]
FACT: Spending To Secure Soviet Stockpiles Down Under Bush. Funding needs to secure stockpiles in the Former Soviet Union were clear at the outset of the Bush Administration, yet in real terms Bush has requested less money on average than the Clinton Administration did in its last year in office - despite a campaign pledge in 2000 to fund Nunn-Lugar. [Bunn and Weir, Securing the Bomb, Arms Control Today, 3/2004]
